FTF on carry ammo at range today!

[9mmfan]

For years I've either carried Cor Bon or Gold Dots for self defense ammo. First in my 92FS now in my Glock 19. Once a year I replace my carry ammo. I usually do it in the spring of the year but was a bit lazy this year.

This year I went with Underwood 124 Gr GD +p. For the past year I have tried different weights and such I decided on these.

So I'm at the range this afternoon. First I shot a box of Underwood. Then a box of American Eagle (which were quite accurate).
Now I start shooting of my Cor Bon carry ammo. It's 115 Gr +p stuff. The first magazine emptied out quickly with no problem.
About 6 rounds into the second magazine a round failed to feed! I tipped the barrel up some and notice the round jammed against the feed ramp. I yanked the magazine out and the round came out still in the magazine. I pulled that round out and reinserted the magazine and resumed firing. That magazine finished out without another problem.

Half way through the third magazine the same thing happened! Wow.

Just reinforces the need to always carry a spare magazine our two. Also the need to shoot some carry ammo throughout the year. Anybody have this happen to them?

 

[rhino]

It's also a reminder to know and practice how to reduce a malfunction as quickly and efficiently as possible. Any gun can malfunction. Any ammunition can fail. Any combination of the two can result in some kind of failure, although some combinations are less likely to cause problems.

Never trust that factory ammunition is 100% good to go. Always visually inspect all rounds for things like inconsistent overall length, missing or high primers, etc.

I also advocate checking all carry ammunition in a case gauge or the chamber of your guns barrel (removed from the gun). Some people only do it for their reloads, but I've found several rounds of premium factory JHP loads that would not drop into or out of a case gauge.

 

[oldpink]

Rhino's advice is spot on. (rep inbound)
Another suggestion would be to (very carefully) -- engaging your safety if your pistol has one, and using proper trigger discipline, with the muzzle pointed into a safe backstop -- hand cycle the slide on each magazine full of your carry ammo.
That's as close as you can get to cycling your gun normally without actually firing it, maybe just a bit more so than doing the tried and true "plunk* test.

 

[9mmfan]

Thanks for the replies. Not being a reloader never thought of putting the rounds in the barrel. I have cycled carry ammo before though and thus far haven't found a problem but quite obviously never cycled my last carry ammo.

 

[looney2ns]

Its' why you must practice malfunction drills:


[video]https://youtu.be/oJaQvV6q-D8[/video]

 

[INGarand]

Seems like more folks have experienced ammo malfunctions since the scare buying. I bought an extremely high priced box of 22LR and had 3 FTF out of the box.

 

[rhino]

Thanks for the replies. Not being a reloader never thought of putting the rounds in the barrel. I have cycled carry ammo before though and thus far haven't found a problem but quite obviously never cycled my last carry ammo.

I do not advocate cycling the ammunition through your gun (except when you're actually shooting it). The process of loading it into the chamber can reduce the overall length of the cartridges, especially if you do it multiple times.

If you want to check the size of your ammunition, buy a case gauge in the correct caliber from Dillon. If you want to use the chamber of your barrel, you should field strip the gun, remover the barrel, and then use the chamber like you would a case gauge.

 

[possumpacker]

clearing malfunctions is one of the skills that shooting compition such as USPSA will help build. under the clock and under pressure.

 

[rhino]

clearing malfunctions is one of the skills that shooting compition such as USPSA will help build. under the clock and under pressure.

That's true to some extent, but most USPSA & IDPA shooters I have observed don't have a very good process for fixing malfunctions. Almost all will either rack the slide or just reload, which doesn't always work so well and sometimes makes it worse. That's not to say that some of them don't do it very fast, I'm just saying that the actions most take when they don't get a "bang" are not always the best course of action.

It's unusual to see a shooter in either USPSA or IDPA do any version of an "immediate action drill" (like "tap-rack-bang"), although I see it on rare occasions. Given the number of times I've seen people with mags not fully seated (for a variety of reasons), conditioning one's self to "tap" before the rack could save many of them a significant amount of time.

This is, of course, based solely on my personal observation of shooters for almost 21 years. Others may have completely different experiences.

 

[9mmfan]

I took a class at Kodiak Range not long after it opened (the first time). They made us use (for 9mm) 90 gr frangible rounds. Had my share of she'll not fully ejecting so I got pretty good at the tap-rack and or change magazine drill.
Having giving it some thought I believe the 115 gr HP was the problem.

 

[Cygnus]

"If you want to use the chamber of your barrel, you should field strip the gun, remover the barrel, and then use the chamber like you would a case gauge. " -Rhino (Sorry for some reason the Reply with Quote option isn;t loading today)

Rhino, How does one use a case gauge? Just feel if it is too tight or is loose/has play?
Also what is a "high primer" and what does it look like?

 

[Bigtanker]

"If you want to use the chamber of your barrel, you should field strip the gun, remover the barrel, and then use the chamber like you would a case gauge. " -Rhino (Sorry for some reason the Reply with Quote option isn;t loading today)

Rhino, How does one use a case gauge? Just feel if it is too tight or is loose/has play?
Also what is a "high primer" and what does it look like?

A high primer is a primer that is not fully seated into the primer pocket. It sticks out a bit.

 

[Cygnus]

Thanks BT that is what I figured. It would likely be obvious I would think with a ridge/edge sticking up.
I am still waiting to find one the rimless Tula's I have read about on INGO!

 

[Gluemanz28]

A "High" or "Proud" primer that isn't seated firmly against the case can move when the firing pins makes contact with it and not have enough dimple to ignite the primer. They can also cause feed issues.

 

[rhino]

"If you want to use the chamber of your barrel, you should field strip the gun, remover the barrel, and then use the chamber like you would a case gauge. " -Rhino (Sorry for some reason the Reply with Quote option isn;t loading today)

Rhino, How does one use a case gauge? Just feel if it is too tight or is loose/has play?
Also what is a "high primer" and what does it look like?

Rounds should drop into and then out of the case gauge without sticking. When it's "in," the face of the case head should be flush with the top of the case gauge.

The others covered high primers.

 

[Cygnus]

Thanks Rhino. I now see how a barrel could be used.

 

[Leo]

Just reinforces the need to always carry a spare magazine our two.

Or carry a revolver

 

[Markus]

Or carry a revolver

I was wondering when someone would say that. LOL